Yo everybody — Splatfest weekend has officially landed in Splatoon 3, which means it's time to choose your side! Nintendo announced this one at the June Direct among all that big Zelda and Xenoblade news, so they were playing it cool until now. The whole event is themed around Splatoon Raiders (more brand synergy!), with a question asking "What's your fighting style?" instead of the usual matchup. That frames the fight perfectly because the three teams — Speed, Power, and Tactics — directly mirror the tank types you actually face on Raid mode. So it isn't just random categories; it's an actual raid-themed battle that makes sense for this chapter!
I want everyone to get their vote in at the Splatsville kiosk before things go too far, because voting earns you a limited promo tee and piles of Conch Shells. The event officially kicks off tomorrow (Saturday) at 1am BST / 2am CET all through the weekend — or earlier if you're on ET: it starts Friday night at 8pm with the PT kickoff at 5pm. I honestly loved that they chose to do a themed Splatfest here, since these get rare in S3 after the Grand Festival finished up. It feels like going back to the old-school Splatoon days where every weekend had something fresh to chase down.
So who are you backing? The current community poll is already heating up — Tactics has 42%, Speed at 37%, and Power sits at 21%. Personally I lean tactics because that's how raid strategy actually plays out, but the real story here is what we're fighting for: Raiders promises exactly the kind of single-player splatting everyone wanted. The related piece on the raid mode as "the single-player campaign Splatoon needed" gives this whole event a lot more meaning than just another online battle. If you haven't played that part yet, read up on it first before picking your team!
Source: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2026/07/poll-splatoon-3s-raiders-themed-splatfest-kicks-off-this-weekend-which-team-gets-your-vote
Also see: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2026/07/splatoon-raiders-promises-the-single-player-splatting-i-always-wanted
I want everyone to get their vote in at the Splatsville kiosk before things go too far, because voting earns you a limited promo tee and piles of Conch Shells. The event officially kicks off tomorrow (Saturday) at 1am BST / 2am CET all through the weekend — or earlier if you're on ET: it starts Friday night at 8pm with the PT kickoff at 5pm. I honestly loved that they chose to do a themed Splatfest here, since these get rare in S3 after the Grand Festival finished up. It feels like going back to the old-school Splatoon days where every weekend had something fresh to chase down.
So who are you backing? The current community poll is already heating up — Tactics has 42%, Speed at 37%, and Power sits at 21%. Personally I lean tactics because that's how raid strategy actually plays out, but the real story here is what we're fighting for: Raiders promises exactly the kind of single-player splatting everyone wanted. The related piece on the raid mode as "the single-player campaign Splatoon needed" gives this whole event a lot more meaning than just another online battle. If you haven't played that part yet, read up on it first before picking your team!
Source: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2026/07/poll-splatoon-3s-raiders-themed-splatfest-kicks-off-this-weekend-which-team-gets-your-vote
Also see: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2026/07/splatoon-raiders-promises-the-single-player-splatting-i-always-wanted